1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a catheter valve for closing transurethral and suprapubic catheters. It may also be used as a drain valve for urine pouches. In addition, this valve is suitable for discharging other body fluids which have to be intermittently or permanently discharged via a catheter. It is also suitable for permanent urine or secretion discharge for night time use. The catheter can be used with connection of a hose and permanent opening of the catheter valve.
2. The Prior Art
The closing site of a catheter represents one of the possible inlet gates for bacteria with suprapubic or transurethral urine discharge. This site is not critical when a closed urine drainage system is connected because no disconnection is possible. In these systems, a sliding device or clamp is used in most cases with mobilized patients. However, these devices do not always assure a tight closure. The use of a simple catheter stopper may lead to problems when it is removed, because high forces are required in most cases, and small droplets or aerosols may pollute or contaminate the environment when the stopper is separated from the catheter.
To avoid these drawbacks, catheter closing devices can be made so that they can be opened and closed with relative ease and have low contamination without the above drawbacks. Therefore, the catheter can be designed so that there is a diaphragm element that kinks or squeezes together and displaces a sealing element within the zone of a valve seat. A permanently elastic force is active in all cases in the interior of the connector, with an external force counteracting this elastic force.
For example, a catheter valve shown in European Patent No. 0088871 causes a soft hose to kink through axial displacement, and interrupts the flow of urine. No permanent open position is possible for nighttime application.
With the catheter valve of the Uromed Company, a soft hose is connected by an externally actuated leaf spring and has flow-through that is intermittently interrupted. A known catheter valve of Besola AG (Switzerland) operates based on the principle of a roller clamp, as it is known from infusions. Unfortunately, the one major drawback in that the slot in which the roller clamp runs represents a dirt trap.
The three known valves specified above all suffer from the same drawback in that they are too heavy and too large, which clearly impairs the wearing comfort for the patient. The relatively large dead space between the shutoff point and the distal end of the valve leads to residual urine in the valve and to after-dripping of urine. Furthermore, the wet chamber represents an ideal environment for the growth of bacteria. In addition, these designs are very complicated which ensures costly manufacture.
Furthermore, European Patent No. 0144699B1 shows a valve that has gel cushions, spheres or other elements that are displaced in the interior of the valve body by external manual pressure. Such manual activities require great intuitive feel and, therefore, cannot be carried out in many cases by older patients.
German Patent No. 86 23 887 shows a magnetically actuated catheter valve that has a closing element that is retained in the valve housing within the valve seat by a permanent magnet that keeps the valve closed. When required, the closing element can be moved from its position by an external magnetic field to release the flow duct. This catheter valve has one drawback in that the patient must always carry a permanent magnet. Moreover, the moveable ball does not provide a flawless seal.